** HELP!!!! Computer won't respond or do anything!!!

[djxlee]

A beginner builder here, so I don't know anything about troubleshooting. Here's the thing, my computer was perfectly fine last night, so I went to sleep leaving it on. When I wake up, I turn on the monitor but it isn't recieving a signal. I thought my computer froze so I tried to restart it. Well, when the computer turns on, it makes this soft slight noise I've never heard and my case speaker starts spitting out sounds like its from hell. Then nothing... power is on, but no monitor signal, and the lights on my keyboard flashes.

I tried to disconnect my hdd, optical drives and disk drive, but still no signal and computer still makes these funny noises. Did something short? Can anyone give some advice???

 

[mechBgon]

Any lightning strikes in the area last night?

How about list some details about the computer so we have some idea what hardware is in it. If it's an off-the-shelf computer like an eMachine, Gateway, Dell, Compaq or HP, give brand & model. Also, could you describe the sounds from the case's speaker, if they're beep codes?

 

[djxlee]

I live in San Diego, so no lightning stikes to my knowledge last night.

I built this computer and had absolutely NO trouble until now... I'm flippin' out....
here's the specs:

Windows XP Pro
Lian-Li PC-6077
AMD Athlon XP 2500+ Barton @ 2220 Mhz
ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe
512MB Geil PC-3200
Gigabyte Radeon 9600XT (w/ Artic Cooler Rev. 3)
WD 80GB SATA 7200RPM
Antec True430
NEC 2510A DVDRW
Sony 1.44" FDD

That is all. I don't hear clear "beeps" from the case speaker when the computer starts up, more like garbled static.... Hope this helps???

 

[Kaspian]

take the whole thing apart (including taking the mobo off the tray) and put it back together.... i had a similar situation about 3 years ago...there was a tiny loose screw stuck in between the back of the mobo and teh puter case causing the short....dont ask how teh screw got there.....good luck

 

[djxlee]

Originally posted by: Kaspian
take the whole thing apart (including taking the mobo off the tray) and put it back together.... i had a similar situation about 3 years ago...there was a tiny loose screw stuck in between the back of the mobo and teh puter case causing the short....dont ask how teh screw got there.....good luck

Well I took everything out the case and just powered up outside the case, but the speaker still brings in inconsistent static and no visual display. No HDD activity either... any other suggestions?

 

[mechBgon]

I see you committed the common newbie faux pas of cross-posting the same problem over into General Hardware too. Please control yourself, you had people replying to this thread in under ten minutes. If your first thread fails to get help after a day or two, then sure.

Yeah, my next suggestion would be to take the computer apart and set up just the core essentials on cardboard like this. The only case wiring that should be connected is the power button.

If the system won't run like this, start by resetting the motherboard's CMOS (unplug system, take out CMOS battery, move jumper for 10 sec, reverse procedure).

If that still doesn't help, then substitute in known-working parts in place of your current AGP card and PSU, then the RAM if you have other suitable RAM. If you have another system but its RAM isn't fast enough to run in this one (like PC2100 for example), then test your nicer RAM in the slower system to see if it works there.

Nice job spec'ing your system, excellent first build there

 

[djxlee]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
I see you committed the common newbie faux pas of cross-posting the same problem over into General Hardware too. Please control yourself, you had people replying to this thread in under ten minutes. If your first thread fails to get help after a day or two, then sure.

Yeah, my next suggestion would be to take the computer apart and set up just the core essentials on cardboard like this. The only case wiring that should be connected is the power button.

If the system won't run like this, start by resetting the motherboard's CMOS (unplug system, take out CMOS battery, move jumper for 10 sec, reverse procedure).

If that still doesn't help, then substitute in known-working parts in place of your current AGP card and PSU, then the RAM if you have other suitable RAM. If you have another system but its RAM isn't fast enough to run in this one (like PC2100 for example), then test your nicer RAM in the slower system to see if it works there.

Nice job spec'ing your system, excellent first build there

Okay, sorry about double posting.... I'm just freakin' out since this is the first problem I've encountered with. I'll try to take everything out, but I don't have any spare parts or anything to test it with. Maybe I'll have to take everything over to a friend's house. I'll let you know if I find anything... Thx.

 

[mechBgon]

That motherboard also has speech diagnostics, so you might try a pair of headphones or powered speakers in the green audio-out jack on the rear if you haven't already.

Bigger picture: any burnt smells or charred/discolored areas you've noticed? :Q Unplug your ATX cable and check its "fingers" since all the power goes through the ATX cable on that board (no ATX12V secondary cable).

 

[djxlee]

Well, I tried to power on just the motherboard outside the case and it seems that my video card is making some sort of "whining" noise that has never happened before. When i remove my video card and just power on the motherboard, it seems fine but adding the video card brings out the strange whining noise...

I tried minimal overclocks on the video card using Gigabyte's V-Tuner software, but I reset it factory speeds and used it for a few hours after with no problems. Then, I woke up and no signal on my lcd.

Is it the video card maybe?

 

[mechBgon]

I'm sort of thinking it might be, yeah. For one thing, you modified it. You don't have any other AGP 4X or 8X cards to test with, huh? Or PCI even?

 

[djxlee]

Unfortunately no. I'm going to a friend's house and swap some components and figure out what it is.... Maybe this'll give me an excuse to upgrade my video card? Hehe, but thx for the advice mechBgon...

 

[mechBgon]

Yeah If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is broke, then upgrade!